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When we are discouraged and coming close to doubting the integrity of God by thinking He just might not come through for us, the writer of Hebrews tells us what to do. He says in Hebrews 10:32, "But call to remembrance the former days...."

What the Word of God is telling us is that this is a time to put everything on hold, tell your mind to be silent, command your emotions to be stilled, and remember—let your mind drift backward to your earlier experiences with the Lord when your faith was simple, uncomplicated, and like that of a child.

Do You Remember Those Days?
Can you remember the joy of being filled with the Holy Spirit and experiencing all of His supernatural power and miracles as you prayed in the name of Jesus?

Can you remember the "former days" when you first knew you had the power to witness to your friends and your family and how you burned with a spiritual passion to see them saved?

Can you remember the "former days" when you carried your Bible nearly everywhere you went and viewed it in a new and precious way? Can you remember those early, precious and tender "former days" in your spiritual journey?

Hebrews 1:32 tells us that we must "call them to remembrance." In others words, when times are rough and our faith isn't finding its fulfillment as quickly as we desired, and when our minds and our bodies are ready to give up, we must decide to remember the faithfulness of God. We must decide to remember how we felt when God first spoke to us concerning the direction of our lives.

We must decide to rehearse our experiences of intimacy and victory with the Lord. If we are discouraged and feeling defeated, the flesh will not want to remember such times. Therefore, we must decide to remember them. We must decide to "call them to remembrance."

When we fail to take the initiative to remember the former days, then we won't remember! It happens only because we choose for it to happen!

Bad Memories vs. Good Memories
For these Hebrew believers, the memory of the early days of great faith and awesome miracles had been clouded over as year after year after year passed. They waited and waited for their dreams to be fulfilled, for the promises of God to manifest, but still nothing had happened.

Disappointment had set in, their hearts were growing weary, and they were beginning to think that it was all a terrible farce. As the winds of adversity sought to extinguish the flickering flame of their dreams, the Holy Spirit directed them to "Call to remembrance for former days...."

The word "remembrance" can be translated "to recollect." What does it mean to "recollect" something? The word "recollect" really contains the idea of going back in the past and digging up memories, those that are not easily remembered—not bad memories, but good memories.

Bad memories are easily remembered, and the flesh loves to hang on to bad memories. But good memories are quickly forgotten and overshadowed by pending circumstances.

It takes a committed decision and some effort to push the flesh aside, shove discouragement out of the way, and go back into the recesses of your mind to bring those good memories of God's faithfulness back into the forefront of your thinking.

Another way of paraphrasing Hebrews 10:32 might be, "There are some memories that you ought not bury! Rather, you need to go back and pull them out of the tomb, you need to bring them up in your life and erect them as monuments to God's faithfulness. They should always be in the forefront of your mind."

Recall Past Victories To Build Your Faith
Whenever you get discouraged or impatient and you feel your faith wavering, the flesh has a way of saying, "Please tell me that the situation is hopeless and I am a failure. This dream was my own fantasy and I should just give up and be like everyone else."

When you feel defeated like that, you've got to make a decision to "Call to remembrance the former days," those great monuments of victory from the past. Begin to shout your flesh down by praising God and thinking Him for bringing you through every challenging and sometimes frightening set of circumstances.

Like David did on many occasions, square your shoulders, stand tall, and march toward your giant declaring that God has delivered you from the lion and the bear, and He can certainly deliver you from any pressure or obstacle that would seek to hinder or destroy the dream He has given you!

Source: Dream Thieves by Rick Renner
Excerpt permission granted by Albury Publishing

Author Biography

Rick Renner
Web site: Rick Renner Ministries
 
Rick and Denise met while they were each on an individual quest to wholeheartedly follow God's plan for their lives. Rick was a college student, growing in his teaching ministry. Denise was a talented vocalist. She chose not to pursue a course that held the prospect of performing with the Metropolitan Opera so that she could instead pursue a relationship with Rick and fulfill her heart's desire to enter full-time ministry.
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